Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-10-21

instantly have provoked a sanguinary civil
war. But it was generally feltin the coun-
try that this measure was most unSatIs-
factory one. and could hardly be expected
to be permanent. Indeed, as it was, the
various intrigues that were set On foot By
ambitious mobiles to obtain the hand of one
or other OF the queens in marriage had dis
duieted the country, and the general opin-
ion was that there would be bloodshed be-
fore long.
will now pass on TO The question of the
Zu-vendi religion, which is nothing more
or less than worship OF a pronounced
and highly developed character. Around
this sun-worshio is grouped the entire
social system of the Zu-vendi. 1t sends its
roots through every institution and custom
of the land. From the cradle to the grave,
the Zu-vcndi follows the sun in every sense
of the word AS an infant he is sOlemnly
held up in its light and dedicated TO 1.-The
symbol of good, the expression of power,
and the hope Of eternity" the ceremony
answering to our baptism. Whilst yet a
tiny child, his parents point out the glori-
Gus orb as the presence of a visible and
beneficent god, and he worships it at its
uprising and down-setting. Then, when
still quite small, he goes, holding fast to
the pendent end of his mothers 'kaf'
Ctoga}. up to the temple Of the Sun of the
nearest city. and there, when at midday
the bright beams strike down upon the
golden central altar and beat back the fire
that burns thereon, he hears the white
ROBBED priests raise their solemn chant Of
praise, and sees the people fall down to
adore; and then. amid the blowing of the
golden trumpets, watches the s&c;itlce
thrown into the fiery furnace beneath the
altar. Here he comes again to be declared
"a man" by the priests, and consccrated
to war and to good works; here before the
solemn altar he leads his bride, and here
too, if differences shall unhappily arise, he
divorces her.
And so on, down life's long pathway till
the last mile is Travelled, and he comes
again, armed indeed and with dignity, but
no longer man. Here they bear him dead
and lay his bier upon the falling brazen
doors before the eastern altar, and when
the last ray from the setting sun falls upon
his poor white face, the bolts are drawn
and he vanishes into the raging furnace
beneath, and is ended.
The priests of the Sun do not marry, but
are recruited by young men specially de-
voted to the work by their parents, and
supported by the state. The nomination
to the higher Offices of the priesthood lies
with the Crown, but once appointed the
nominees cannot be dispossessed, and it is
scarcely too much to say that they really
rule the land. To begin with, they are
united body sworn to obedience and secrecy,
so that an order issued by the High Priest
at MilOsis will be instantly and unhesita-
tingly acted upon by the resident priest of
a little cOuntry-town three or four hum
bred miles off They are the judges OF the
land, criminal and civil, an appeal lying
only to the lord paramount of the district,
and from him to the king; and they have,
of course. practically unlimited jurisdic-
ton over religious and moral OffenSeS, to-
gether with n right of accommodation,
which, as in the faiths of more highly civ
ilized lands, is very effective weapon.
Indeed, their rights and powers are almost
unlimited; but | may as well state here
that the priests Of the Sun are wise in their
generations, and do not push things too
far. 1t is but very seldom that they go to
extremes against anybody, being more IN
clined to exercise the prerogatiye of mercy
than run the risk Of eXasperating the pow
erful and vigOrous-minded people on whose
neck they have set their yoke, lest it shC;lld
rise and break it off altogether.
Another source of their power is their
practical monopoly of learning, and their
very considerable astronomical knowledge,
which enables them to keep hold on the
popular mind by predicting eclipses and
even comets. In Zu-vendis only q few of
the upper classes can read and write; but
nearly all the priests have this power, and
are therefore looked upon as learned men.
The law of the country is, on the whole,
mild and just, but differs in several re.
speCtS from our civilized law. For in
stance the law of England is much more
severe upon offenses against proIAkty than
against the person, as becomes a people
whose ruling passion is money. 4 man
may kick his wife to death. or inflict hor-
rible Sufferings upon his children at a
muCa cheaper rate of punishment than he
can compound for the theft of 4 pair of old
boots. In Zu-vcndiS this is not so; for they
rightly or wrongly look upon the person as
Of more consequence than goods and chat
tells, and not as in England. as a sort of
necessary appendage to the latter. For
murder the punishment is death; for trea-
son, death; for defrauding the orphan and
the widow, for sacrilege, and for attempt
ing to quit the country (Which is looked on
as a saCrilege), death. In each case the
method of execution is the same, a rather
awful one. The culprit is thrown alive
into the fiery furnace beneath one of the
affairs to the Sun. For all other offenses,
including the Offense of idieness the pun
iShment is forced labor upon the vast ma.
tional buildings which are always going
on in some part of the country, with or
without periodical fioggings, according to
the crime.
The social system of the Zu-vendi allows
considerable liberty to the individual, pro-
vided he does not offend against the laws
and customs of the country. They are
pOlygamous in theory, though most of
them have only one wife on account Of the
expense. BY law Il man is bound to pro-
vide separate establishment for each
wife. The first wife also is the legal wife,
and her children are said to be ''of the
house of the Father" The children Of the
other wives are of the houses of their re-
spective mothers This does not, however,
imply any slur upon either mother or chill
dren. Again, n first wife can, on entering
into the married state, make bargain
that her husband shall marry no other
wife. This, however, is very rarely done,
as the women are the great upholders Of
polygamy, which not only provides Tor
their surplus numbers, but gives greater
importance to the first wife, who is thus
practically the head of several households.
Marriage is looked upon as primarily q
civil contract, and, subject to certain con-
dluons and 20 proper provision for chill
dren, is dissolubie 1T the will of both con-
tracing parties, the divorce. or unlock.
ing, being formally accomplished by 60
ing through certain portions of the mar.
riage ceremony backward
The Zu-vendi are, on the whole, q very
kindly, pleasant, and light-hearted people.
they are not great traders. and care little
about money, only working to earn enough
TO support themselves in that class of life
In which they were born. They are ex-
ceedfngly conservative, and look with dis
favor on changes, Their legal tender is
silver, cut into little squares of different
weights; gold is the baser coin, and is about
of the same value as our silver 1t is, how
ever, much priced for its beauty, and large
ly used for ornaments and decorative pur-
poses. most OF the trade, however. Is IA
ried on by means of sale and barter, pay
ment being made in kind. Agriculture is
the great business of the country, and is
really well understood and carried out.
nearly the whole available surface being
under cultivation. Great attention is also
given to the breeding of cattle and horses.
the latter being unsurpassed by any have
ever seen either in Europe or Africa
The land belongs Theoretically TO the